Quick-detachable mounting for jewelry drop ornament



.iml 7, 1964 y "R. c. BANGS 3,116,616

QUICK-DETACHABLE MOUNTING FOR JEWELRY DROP ORNAMENT Filed April 28. 195s INVENTOR. gv awzys WMM-dm United States Patent Oiiice llhlh Patented Jan. 7, 1964 3,116,616 QUlCK-DETACHABLE MUNTING FOR JEWELRY DROP ORNAMENT Ralph C. Bangs, Providence, RJ., assignor to Coro, Inc. of Rhode Island, a corporation of Rhode Island Fiied Apr. 28, 195g, Ser. No. 731,472 l Claim. (Cl. 63-13) The present invention relates generally to the jewelry art and is more particularly concerned with a novel and improved mounting means for so-called drop ornaments.

A primary object of the instant invention is the provision of means for mounting a drop ornament in such a way that the ornament is securely attached When the jewelry article is in wearing position, but whereby the ornament may be readily and simply detached whenever desirable.

Another important object of my invention is -the provision of a quick-detachable mounting for drop ornaments whereby the ornament may be readily and simply removed for replacement by a different drop ornament.

Another object of this invention is the provision of novel and improved mounting means for a drop jewelry ornament whereby the versatility of the jewelry product with which said ornament is associated is greatly increased in that the same jewelry article may be readily varied to create different and distinct ornamental impressions and to blend with different ensembles.

A further object of my invention is the provision of a mounting of the character described which may be easily and feasibly associated with a wide variety of jewelry products, such as earrings, brooches, etc., and which may be easily operated and manipulated by the wearer.

Still another object of the present invention is the provision of a quick-detachable mounting for drop ornaments which is simple and efcient in operation, economically feasible to manufacture, of durable construction, and of pleasing appearance to the eye.

Other objects, features and advantages of the invention will become apparent as the description thereof proceeds when considered in connection with the accompanying illustrative drawings.

In the drawings which illustrate the best mode presently contemplated by me for carrying out my invention:

FIG. l is a front view of an earring embodying the instant invention, the dotted lines showing the ornament in position for detachment;

FIG. 2 is a side elevational View thereof;

FIG. 3 is a rear View thereof;

FIG. 4 is a section, on an enlarged scale, taken on line 4-4 of FlG. 2;

FlG. 5 is a section, on lan enlarged scale, taken on line 5 5 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 6 is a perspective detail, on an enlarged scale, of the spherical wall which forms a part of my construction;

FIG. 7 is a perspective detail, on an enlarged scale, of the circular wall which forms a part of the instant construction; and

FIG. 8 is a perspective detail, on an enlarged scale, of the pivotal mounting element which forms a part of my invention.

It has been found desirable to provide a construction whereby a hanging, drop-like ornament may be readily removed from an associated jewelry item for replacement by a different drop ornament. More specifically, although the prior art has evidenced various developments whereby the so-called button-type ornament has been made readily detachable in connection with its associated jewelry product, the problem of making a drop ornament readily detachable is a much more diflicult one and one which has never been successfully solved heretofore. In the development and manufacture of such a construction, it is essential that the means for detaching the ornament be extremely simple and require no tools or the like, while at the same time it is equally important that the ornament be securely assembled when the jewelry item is in wearing positon in order that there will be no likelihood of the ornament becoming inadvertently detached. The instant invention, now to be described, overcomes this problem in a highly unique and ingenious manner.

Referring now to the drawings, there is shown generally at lill` an earring embodying the instant invention. It will be understood, however, that while the drawings illustrate the instant invention as a part of an earring, and while the instant invention is particularly adaptable and advantageous in connection with earrings, the basic principles of this invention are in no way limited to this particular association but rather could be used in combination with a brooch or any other jewelry item having a drop ornament where it is desirable that the ornament be readily detachable for replacement in order that the same jewelry item may be capable of complementing a variety of different ensembles.

Referring to FIG. 2, it will be noted that earring 10 comprises a substantially U-shaped bar 12 having a conventional lobe engaging screw 14 threadedly connected with one extremity thereof as at 16. A semi-spherical housing 18 is secured `to the opposite extremity of bar 12 as at Ztl, it being understood that this securement may be effected by any desirable means, such as soldering or the like.

Referring now to FIGS. 5 through 7, it will be seen that the housing 13 is of hollow construction and comprises a substantially semi-spherical shell 22 and a substantially circular flat wall 24. As will be seen most clearly in FIG. 6, the peripheral edge of shell 22 is provided with an elongated notch 26 terminated iat each end by tabs Z3, each of which is adjacent to a relatively shallow notch 3d. Wall 24, in turn, is provided with a pair of spaced lugs 32 adapted to seat within the aforedescribed notches 30 whereby wall 24 is not only prevented from rotating relative to shell 22 when assembled therewith, but also from collapsing inwardly with respect thereto. It will be understood that wall 24 is dimensioned so as to fit snugly within the edge of shell 22, as shown most clearly in FIG. 5, the tabs 2S then being bent over said wall to maintain it in assembled relation (note FIG. 3).

Since the elongated notch 26 is of greater depth than the aformentioned notches 30, it follows that when wall 24- is assembled to shell 22, an elongated slot 34 is provided. lf desired, wall 24 may be provided with an integral, outwardly extending tongue 36, said tongue functioning to provide additional soldering surface for receiving the bar 12, as shown most clearly in FIG. 5.

The semi-spherical housing 1S may be of any desired material, although it is preferably of metallic construction, and it will be understood that at least the Sernispherical surface 22 thereof is highly polished or colored to provide a button-like ornament of pleasing appearance. The flat wall 24 thereof is in substantial alignment with the inner end of pressure screw 14 whereupon the wearers lobe may be gripped therebetween in a manner well known in the art. lf desired, a resilient pressure clip of conventional construction could be utilized in place of the screw-type clip illustrated herein without departing from the spirit or scope of this invention.

The means by which a so-called drop ornament 38 is detachably associated with earring 10 will now be described. The drop ornament 38, which may be pearl or any other ornamental stone, is mounted in a conventional metallic setting dtl by cementing, clinching, or any other desirable means. The setting or mounting 4t) is in turn provided with an integral eye portion 42 which is adapted to engage over a hook 44 integrally formed at the outer extremity of an elongated mounting element 46. More specifically, element 46 comprises an elongated metallic strap which is pivotally secured to the inner surface of wall 24, as by rivet Aligned apertures 50 and 52 are provided in element and wall 24, respectively, for receiving said rivet, it being important to note that the point of pivotal mounting for element 46 is displaced from the center point of wall 24, or in other words, element 46 is eccentrically mounted with respect thereto.

As will be seen most ciearly in FlGS. 4 and 5, element 46 extends outwardly through slot 34 with its hook portion 44 directed toward spherical surface 22. Noting FG. 5 particularly, it will be seen that when earring 16 is in wearing position with ornament 33 depending straight downwardly, spherical surface 22 functions to block ot the open portion of hook 44 whereupon there is no possibility of eye 42 becoming inadvertently disengaged therefrom. Due, however', to the eccentric mounting of element 46, it will be obvious that pivotal movement of said element toward the opposite extremity of slot 44 will cause the hook 44 to move progressively farther away from surface 22 (note FIGS. 1 and 4) whereby the open portion of said hook is no longer blocked and ornament 38 may be readily removed therefrom for replacement by another ornament. Thus, any time a wearer wishes to substitute a different drop ornament for the one presently in use, it is only necessary to pivot the ornament and its mounting element to the opposite end of slot 34 in order to unblock hook 44 whereupon the drop ornament may be readily removed and replaced by another. The whole operation can easily be effected without even removing the earring from the wearers lobe.

There is very little likelihood of the ornament 3S ever becoming inadvertently disengaged, since when the earring is in its normal wearing position, gravity will tend to maintain mounting element 46 in the position illustrated in FIG. 5, in which position the open portion of hook 44 is electively blocked. Furthermore, even if element 46 should accidentally pivot from its normal position, it is still unlikely that the ornament would become disengaged from the hook unless physically manipulated to effect such disengagement.

While there is shown and described herein certain specific structure embodying the invention, it will be manifest to those skilled in the art that various modifications and rearrangements of the parts may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the underlying inventive concept and that the same is not limited to the particular forms herein shown and described except insofar as indicated by the scope of the appended claim. For

example, it is not essential that thc housing To be spherical in configuration, but rather the important thing is that the path of pivotal movement of hook 44 be eccentric to the peripheral edge of housing 1 3 whereby said hook automatically becomes unblocked during pivotal movement thereof in a given direction.

I claim:

In an earring construction, a mounting bracket, an engaging member joined to one extremity of said mounting bracket for mounting said earring construction on the ear lobe of the wearer, an ornament assembly joined to the other extremity of said mounting bracket, said ornament assembly including a housing tnat is defined by a substantially semi-spherical ornamental portion that forms the front part of said housing, a flat circular member joined to the rear of said substantially semi-spherical portion and forming the rear wall of said housing, an elongated mounting element pivotally secured to said rear wall in face-to-face relation therewith at a point spaced from the center thereof in eccentric relation and normally extending over a maior portion of said wall and projecting beyond the peripheral edge thereof, said mounting element being movable between a rst and second position in a plane parallel to the plane of said wall and being formed with a hook on the portion thereof that projects beyond the peripheral edge of said wall, a drop ornament mounted on said hook and being normally securely retained thereon when said mounting element is located in said first position, the end of said hook normally facing in the direction of the substantially semispherical portion of said housing so as to be closed by the curvature thereof when said mounting element is in the first position, the eccentric mounting of said mounting element on said wall providing for movement of the end of said hook away from said substantially semispherical portion as said mounting element is pivoted from the first or closed position to the second or open position, whereby said hook is accessible for attaching or detaching of said drop ornament.

References Cited in the tile of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 251,068 Russell Dec. 20, 1881 316,269 Jewett Apr. 21, 1885 349,170 Morrow Sept. 14, 1886 1,419,060 Knowles lune 6, 1922 1,674,607 Nittel June 19, 1928 2,797,561 Vaughn July 2, 1957 FOREIGN PATENTS 142,734 Australia Aug. 6, 1951 

